Germany's Friedrich Merz accuses Russia of 'terror against civilians'
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday condemned what he described as Russian "terror against the civilian population" of Ukraine and urged the European Union to swiftly impose new sanctions on Moscow.
Speaking alongside the Netherlands' caretaker Prime Minister Dick Schoof in Berlin, Merz accused Russia of deliberately targeting non-military sites in its latest waves of strikes.
The two met to discuss topics related to bilateral and European cooperation as well as international politics.
Merz described recent attacks on Ukrainian residential areas as "the most serious war crimes" which were "anything but a proportionate response to the very precise Ukrainian attacks on military airfields and infrastructure in the last week."
Moscow is escalating the situation and attempting "to create a bloodbath" instead of negotiating with Ukraine, Merz said, who added that a larger tragedy had been averted due to Ukraine's air defence.
Schoof echoed Merz's concerns and said Ukraine was defending not only its own sovereignty "but also the security of Europe...after a war of aggression that was started by Russia."
The comments from the Dutch and German leaders come just days ahead of a G7 summit in Canada and a NATO meeting later this month.
There, Ukraine's Western allies are expected to urge US President Donald Trump to take a firmer stance against the Kremlin.
Merz and Schoof also extended their condolences to the victims of a shooting at a school in Graz, Austria.
Merz said he was "deeply shocked by this news that young people have been so suddenly torn from life."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Israel says it has killed three more Iranian commanders as war drags into second week
Israel said Saturday it had killed three more Iranian commanders in its unprecedented bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic, which Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed had delayed Tehran's alleged progress towards a nuclear weapon by two years. Israel's military said a strike in Qom south of Tehran successfully targeted top Iranian official Saeed Izadi, in charge of coordination with Palestinian militant group Hamas, adding two other commanders from Iran 's Revolutionary Guards were also killed overnight. The Revolutionary Guards said five of its members died in attacks on Khorramabad, according to Iranian media. They did not mention Izadi, who was on US and British sanctions lists, but said Israel had also attacked a building in Qom, with initial reports of a 16-year-old killed and two people injured. As Israel continued to strike Iran's nuclear facilities and military targets, Saar said in an interview that by his country's own assessment, it had "already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb". "We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat," Saar told German newspaper Bild, asserting Israel's onslaught would continue. 02:49 Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon – an accusation the Islamic Republic has denied. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi has said Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 percent. But he added that there was no evidence Tehran had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead. Grossi told CNN it was "pure speculation" to say how long it would take Iran to develop weapons. Israel said it had attacked Iran's Isfahan nuclear site for a second time after its air force announced it had also launched salvos against missile storage and launch sites in the centre of the country. The army later said it was striking military infrastructure in southwest Iran. US President Donald Trump warned on Friday that Tehran had a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes, as Washington weighs whether to join Israel's campaign. 'Not prepared to negotiate' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Istanbul on Saturday for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the conflict. Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met Araghchi in Geneva on Friday, and urged him to resume talks with the United States that had been derailed by Israel's attacks. But Araghchi told NBC News after the meeting that "we're not prepared to negotiate with them (the United States) anymore, as long as the aggression continues". Trump, dismissive of European diplomatic efforts, also said he was unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table. "If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do," he said. Iran: Israel strikes key nuclear site of Isfahan, authorities report no hazardous leak 01:33 Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo. A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on Friday that based on its sources and media reports at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians. Iran's health ministry on Saturday gave a toll of more than 400 people killed and 3,056 in the Israeli strikes. Nasrin, 39, who was receiving treatment at Hazrat Rasool hospital in Tehran and who gave only her first name, said she had been thrown across a room in her home by an Israeli strike on the Iranian capital "I just hit the wall. I don't know how long I was unconscious. When I woke up, I was covered in blood from head to toe," she told AFP from her hospital bed. Iran's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to official figures. Israel's National Public Diplomacy Directorate said more than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they have targeted military sites and air force bases.
LeMonde
4 hours ago
- LeMonde
Kyrgyzstan removes Central Asia's largest Lenin statue
It had been part of the cityscape for more than 50 years, visible from afar with its 23-meter height and 7.5 metric tons. To everyone's surprise, the largest Lenin statue in Central Asia, located in Osh – Kyrgyzstan's second-largest city – vanished overnight. Authorities in this city of 300,000 residents quietly dismantled the monument during the night of June 6 to June 7, provoking either relief or anger within this former Soviet republic. The reactions reflected the complexity of the Soviet legacy across the country, where nostalgia for the USSR has remained widespread despite the rise of Kyrgyz nationalism. The bronze monument celebrating Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, the architect of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union, was the largest in the region not to have been taken down after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. "This is a common practice aimed at improving the architectural and aesthetic appearance of cities," explained the office of the mayor, Zhenishbek Toktorbaev, who was recently appointed. He urged people not to "politicize" the move and cited examples of "Russian cities where Lenin monuments have also been dismantled or relocated." According to city hall, the monument will be "relocated," and in its place, "a [Kyrgyz] flag on a 95-meter-high mast" will be erected.
Local France
4 hours ago
- Local France
France's Macron says Europeans to 'accelerate negotiations' with Iran
On Friday, British, French, German and EU top diplomats held talks in Geneva with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi a week after Israel started its bombardment. They urged Iran to revive diplomatic efforts with the United States to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear programme, but Tehran warned it could only consider diplomacy once Israel halted its bombardment. On Saturday, Macron said talks will be stepped up in an effort to avoid greater conflict. "I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers," Macron said in English on X after holding phone talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. "To achieve this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran." Macron reiterated that "Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons." "It is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful," he added. He once again demanded that Iran must release French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been held since May 2022 on espionage charges their families reject. "Their inhumane detention is unjust," Macron said. "I expect them to return to France."
